The unchanging blessings of God upon the righteous
The unchanging blessings of God upon the righteous
Numbers 23:19-23.
Key verse: Numbers 23:20 Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
The blessings of God are based on two prerequisite namely: the immutability of God, that is His ability to keep and fulfill His promises- Hebrews 6:18 AMP so that by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to the hope set before us. The second requirement is the recipient’s continual keeping of the covenant- Deuteronomy 28:1,15; 1 Samuel 2:30. The irreversibility of God’s blessings is confirmed with these two sacrosanct conditions. We must always seek to hold our end of the bargain by living a life that is pleasing to God in holiness.
There’s a question for us to consider closely: Why do believers suffer? The first fact that I want to establish is the dimensions of suffering. Suffering comes in various ways, in different forms, and for different reasons. If we understand these dimensions, we will get the solution for every suffering there is. First, many suffer as a consequence of their sins and evil- 1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that all of you suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. Even believers are not exempted from the consequence of any untoward acts toward God or our fellow humans. The simple solution in this case is to repent and restitute all sinfulness; Another reason for suffering is lack of knowledge. Many are going through negative circumstances they suppose are their portion, so they resign to fate, whereas, the grace for appropriation is readily available through desperate and earnest prayers- 1 Peter 4:1; Suffering may also come as the will of God. it may come by God’s design to fulfill His unquestionable desire in the life of His beloved- 1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that all of you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. We must have a discernible sense to appropriate the right solutions whenever we pass through any strait or suffering in our walk with God.
The Israelites from the text enjoyed the protection of God from the curse of Balaam as a result of His covenant and promise over them. But the moment they stepped out of line, the enemy gained ground and decimated them- Numbers 31:16. We stand to enjoy this same measure of blessings and even more through Christ as we continue steadfastly in Him and live holily all the days of our lives. But we must remain watchful and guard our faith in God. Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
